Google appear to be dominating the IT world, in pretty much all areas of the industry. Not content with being the #1 search provider, they're expanding into all corners, enabling us to benefit from their new services. Their founders were voted as the most influential people in IT, so you know they're big.
You may have heard on the radio, or read online that Google have recently launched their 'PayPal' style Google Checkout service in the UK. If you've visited any online retailers you may have also spotted the £10 off promotion too.
Having been a user of PayPal for a year or two now, I have to say that it's great, but limited in its use - I don't think I've used it anywhere other than eBay. However, Google Checkout has already been banned by eBay themselves, obviously because they didn't want the competition or revenue losses.
So, today I decided to use Google Checkout to purchase 2 Gigabit Switches - a 5-port for the loft and an 8-port for the bedroom, as I'm finding 10/100 to be too slow for my needs. Both Ebuyer and Aria offer the products at a very reasonable price - around £90 for the pair including postage. Add in the Google Checkout (£10 off) and my new switches have dented my account by just £80.
I don't know how long this promotion is going to last, or even if it is a promotion anyway - but if you're needing to purchase anything online within the next few weeks, then make sure you opt for the Google Checkout option. It's a lot less hassle too - my details are stored now after the first purchase, which means I can simply login with my Google account and away it goes. All my orders are stored in the one location, instead of requiring me to trawl through countless websites to find past expenditures.
Putting Google Checkout to one side, I've also explored a few more of their many services, over the past few months. I found the Google Maps to be extremely helpful, as they've shown me a route to my new job that's 1.3 miles shorter! The Google Docs may come in handy sometime, but I find working on a local application a lot more satisfying - even though I spend many hours typing these waffling posts using WordPress. I've even used Google Mail once or twice and am still considering it as a permanent alternative to hotmail and my domain email.
The only worrying thing about all this is the security and the fact that Google now has my card details somewhere on its servers. But I'd rather that Google had it than Microsoft...